This rule will facilitate further implementation of a statutory directive in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) that the Bureau modify or require modification of the public Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for the purpose of protecting consumer privacy interests. In its 2015 final rule to implement the Dodd-Frank Act amendments to HMDA, the Bureau adopted a balancing test to use to determine whether and how HMDA data should be modified prior to its disclosure to the public in order to protect applicant and borrower privacy while also fulfilling HMDA’s public disclosure purposes. The Bureau sought comment in 2017 on its proposed application of the balancing test to the 2018 data to be collected and reported by lenders, and issued final policy guidance in late 2018. After consideration of stakeholder comments urging that determinations concerning the disclosure of loan-level HMDA data be effectuated through more formal processes, the Bureau has decided to add the new notice-and-comment rulemaking to govern HMDA data disclosure going forward.  Commencing a notice-and-comment rulemaking will enable the Bureau to adopt a more definitive approach to disclosing HMDA data to the public in future years after considering new information concerning the privacy risks and benefits of disclosure of the HMDA data.